The halfway mark in the SA National Rally Championship was reached in the Eastern Cape this weekend, with reigning champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (Ford Dealer Team Fiesta) winning the VW Rally and improving their championship position after four rounds to fourth.
It was a comfortable victory in the end for the Ford pair, their second in a row after triumphing in the PMC Gauteng Rally in May. They completed the 15 special stages over a total racing distance of 179 kilometres on Friday and Saturday in a time of 1 hr 55 min 55 sec. Second were arch-rivals and current championship leaders Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee (Castrol Team Toyota Yaris), 1 min 30 sec in arrears. Between them, the two top contenders for the championship title that Cronje and Houghton have claimed for the past two years won 14 of the stages with Cronje victorious in 10 and Poulter in 4.
The Toyota pair increased their championship lead to 15.5 points after accumulating 78 points from wins in each of the first two rounds, a seventh place in the PMC Rally and now second in the Eastern Cape. Cronje and Houghton scored only 6.5 points in the first two rounds, but have got their title challenge back on track with another 50 points for the back-to-back wins.
Third four-wheel drive S2000 car home in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon was the first of the four Volkswagen Sasolracing Polos entered for the manufacturer’s home event, driven by the Dutch/Belgian duo of Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt. A consistent performance saw them convert third place behind Cronje and Poulter on Friday to the final step on the podium on Saturday, 3 min 28 sec behind the winners. They now move up to second in the championship with 62.5 points.
Team-mates and former S2000 Challenge winners Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin made it two VWs in the top four with a troubled but gutsy drive that saw them overcome power steering problems on Friday and then a burst power steering pipe and a small fire (quickly extinguished by the marshals) on Saturday’s opening stage, which forced them to complete four stages without power steering. They finished a distant 12 min 25 sec in arrears.
These were the only four out of ten S2000 cars and a single S2000 Challenge entry to complete the full route and score full championship points on an incident-filled event held in cool, cloudy and windy conditions.
Fifth overall was the Imperial Toyota Yaris of 2009 Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers and Greg Godrich, who withdrew with engine problems on stage 13 while lying an impressive third – which would have equalled their best result of third in the VW Rally last year – and were awarded half points under the Super Rally rules. They had been fourth at the overnight stop in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
Similarly, Henk Lategan and Barry White (VW Sasolracing Polo) were awarded half points for sixth place despite dropping out after going off the road on stage 13 while lying fifth. They had been fifth overnight after delays caused by power steering problems and a broken drive shaft.
Namibian Wilro Dippenaar and South African co-driver Kes Naidoo in the lone S2000 Challenge PZN Panelbeaters/Castrol Toyota Auris were classified seventh under Super Rally rules after completing only two of Saturday’s eight stages.
There were four non-finishers. Castrol Team Toyota’s Hergen Fekken and Carolyn Swan in the second factory Yaris slipped from joint second in the championship standings to third (with 57 points) after electrical/engine problems forced them out on Friday’s opening stage.
Austrian rally champion Raimund Baumschlager and German co-driver Klaus Wicha, making a guest appearance in a factory VW Sasolracing Polo, retired with gearbox problems after completing Friday’s opening stage in sixth place.
Japie van Niekerk and Gerhard Snyman (New Africa Developments Ford Fiesta) only managed to complete three stages on day one before the radiator was holed by a stone and the engine overheated. They had been right on the pace and were lying third after the first two stages. It was decided not to risk further damage to the engine by tackling Saturday’s stages.
Namibian Thilo Himmel and South African co-driver Armand du Toit (Investec VW Polo) went off the road in stage four and were also unable to continue.
The next round of the championship is the Cullinan Rally on August 15 and 16.